Imperial Wharf railway station

Imperial Wharf
Western (northbound) entrance, 27 September 2009
Imperial Wharf Location of Imperial Wharf in Greater London
Location	Sands End
Local authority	Hammersmith and Fulham
Managed by	London Overground
Owner	Transport for London
Station code	IMW
DfT category	E
Number of platforms	2
Accessible	Yes [1]
Fare zone	2
National Rail annual entry and exit
2009–10	0.119 million[2]
2010–11	0.737 million[2]
2011–12	1.232 million[2]
2012–13	1.580 million[2]
2013–14	1.818 million[2]
2014–15	1.983 million[2]
Key dates
27 September 2009	Opened
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
London Transport portal UK Railways portalCoordinates: 51°28′31″N 0°10′58″W / 51.47517°N 0.18281°W

Imperial Wharf is a railway station in Fulham within 500 metres of Chelsea in south-west London on the West London Line and in common with many stations has given rise to its own subdistrict name Imperial Wharf, which is to some minds synonymous with Chelsea Harbour. The station is between West Brompton and Clapham Junction stations and services are provided by London Overground and Southern.

The station opened on Sunday 27 September 2009 and is operated by London Overground.^[3]

The station is in the mainly historic subdistrict term Sands End and its railway passes over Townmead Road. It takes its name from the adjacent redevelopment of a brownfield, former industrial, site, which has been developed into a luxury 1,800 apartment river-side complex by property developers St George since 2004. As the Imperial Wharf development continued to grow, so did the business case for the Imperial Wharf station. A further application for 1,500 residential units including a 37 storey tower was submitted to Hammersmith & Fulham Council in early 2009.

The station is also adjacent to Chelsea Harbour, and was known by this name during early stages of development; indeed its TIPLOC code is "CseaH" in computerised timetable systems.

History

Calls for a station here were met in 2005 with a fully costed station and signalling at £3 million, of which £1.7 million had already been provided by Berkeley Homes Plc through its St George upmarket London-focussed subsidiary,^[4] the developer of the Imperial Wharf site, leaving a funding shortfall of £1.3 million.^[5]

In October 2007, Hammersmith and Fulham Council announced that St George Homes had agreed to provide another £1.2 million, roughly enough to complete the project. It is also reported that the planning permission for the whole of the Imperial Wharf development was only given on the basis that a station was built.

The station secured full funding on 28 April 2008.^[6][7] The station opened on Sunday 27 September 2009, in a ceremony attended by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

Locale

The new station provides an important link for the Sands End area to Clapham Junction station in the south of London and northwards towards Willesden Junction station. This will be particularly important as the area is further developed by both private and public organisations. This investment includes a new residential development called "The Gallery" which has been started on recently cleared land next to the Laura Ashley offices, between Bagleys Lane and Elbe Street.

There are also plans by another developer to re-develop the Lots Road Power Station, into 395 residential units. The Lots Road Power Station, close to the Thames, is a large, disused, coal-fired power station. It was designed in 1902 and completed in 1905 and until 2003 was used to provide power for London Underground. The developers hope to complete the building by 2013.

Services

A London Overground train at Imperial Wharf

West London Route
Legend
West Coast Main Line Milton Keynes Central Bletchley Leighton Buzzard Tring Berkhamstead Hemel Hempstead M25 motorway Watford Junction Harrow & Wealdstone Wembley Central to London Euston to Stratford Shepherd's Bush Kensington (Olympia) West Brompton Imperial Wharf River Thames Clapham Junction Wandsworth Common Balham Streatham Common Norbury Thornton Heath Selhurst East Croydon South Croydon Brighton Main Line and Oxted Line

The typical off-peak services in trains per hour (tph) are:

• 4tph northbound to Willesden Junction, of which 2tph continue to Stratford (London Overground)^[8]
• 1tph northbound to Milton Keynes Central (Southern)^[9]
• 4tph southbound to Clapham Junction (London Overground)^[8]
• 1tph southbound to South Croydon (Southern)^[9]

At peak times, all 4 London Overground trains continue to Stratford. Some additional Southern services also operate between Shepherd's Bush and Clapham Junction. Late evening London Overground services only run between Willesden Junction and Clapham Junction.^[8] On Sundays, Southern services only run between Watford Junction and Clapham Junction.^[9]

Connections

• London Bus routes 391, 424 and C3 serve the station.^[10]
• Chelsea Harbour Pier, which is approximately 250 metres away for river buses services.^[11]

Abandoned future proposal

There were proposals, supported by RBK&C, to include a stop at this location, on the proposed Crossrail 2 line (known for a time as the 'Chelsea-Hackney Line'). If these plans were carried forward, then it would provide an interchange between London Overground services and either London Underground or main line commuter rail services, depending on which standards the new line is built to.^[12]

However, as of 2014, it is unlikely that Crossrail 2 will route via this location due to the engineering complexities of a kink in the route between the proposed Chelsea station and Clapham Junction. The nearest London Underground stations will remain Fulham Broadway, West Brompton and Sloane Square. Fulham Broadway was also once planned for the Crossrail 2 route but aborted.^[13]

References

1. "London and South East" (PDF). National Rail Enquiries. National Rail. September 2006. Archived from the original (pdf) on 6 March 2009.
2. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
3. Chuffed by new train station, London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
4. Imperial Wharf planning report, paragraph 35
5. Westlondonlinegroup.org.uk - funding shortfall, 13 April 2005
6. "Hammersmith & Fulham to give green light to new Imperial Wharf railway station" (Press release). 24dash.com. 21 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
7. "Imperial Wharf station saved". London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham. 2008-04-21. Archived from the original on 2008-05-26. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
8. Richmond/Clapham Junction to Stratford Timetable from December 2014
9. Croydon and Clapham Junction to Watford Junction and Milton Keynes Central Timetable
10. "Buses from Imperial Wharf and Chelsea Harbour" (PDF). Transport for London. 26 September 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
11. "Boats from Chelsea Harbour Pier" (PDF). Transport for London. Spring 2009. Retrieved 2010-11-03.
12. http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/i/imperial_wharf/
13. "Crossrail 2 June 2014". TfL Consultations Portal. Transport for London. Retrieved 5 July 2014.

External links

• "Imperial Wharf station". Always Touch Out. 2007-10-28. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
• Imperial Wharf station work begins.
• Imperial Wharf, SubBrit stations project
• London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham - Chuffed by new train station.
• London Evening Standard Homes and properties - A new railway station for Fulham.
• BBC News Website - A new station opens in South London.
• The Standard - A new Footbridge between Battersea and Imperial Wharf
• The Standard - New Foodbridge is given the go-ahead